Tokai Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Tokai Kogyo Company Limited

Toshio Hirose

Yukihiko Yada

Itaru Shirahata

An improved rocker panel construction includes a substantially convex show surface, a substantially concave hidden surface opposite the show surface, and a clip house mounting structure disposed on the hidden surface. The clip house structure includes a substantially planar clip surface, and substantially planar top and bottom legs attaching the clip surface to the hidden surface. The improvement consists of providing at least one hollow channel surrounded by a reinforcing rib connecting at least one of the legs to the hidden surface. The channel and reinforcing rib may run substantially longitudinally the length of the rocker panel. The channel and reinforcing rib provide a substantial increase in the strength of the attachment of the clip house mounting structure to the hidden surface while preventing the formation of sink marks in the show surface opposite the channel. The rocker panel may be made by gas-assisted injection molding wherein a mold including a mold cavity having the desired final shape, including one or more channel cavities, is provided. A predetermined amount of thermoplastic material is then injected into the mold cavity. Gas is injected into the one or more channel cavities at a predetermined pressure. The thermoplastic material is then allowed to set while the gas pressure is maintained.

Rocker panel construction

An automobile windshield molding is installed together with a metallic core material against a windshield installed in a window opening section of an automobile body panel. The windshield molding having a decorative section for covering an outside portion of the vehicle body panel and an installation section projecting from a rear side of the decorative section. The molding also includes a metallic core material which acts as a supporting frame for the molding. The metallic core material is disposed from the decorative section to the installation section.

Automobile windshield molding method

Automobile windshield molding

A process for making a blow molded product which includes the steps of positioning a sheet having a surface pattern which is incompatible with a parison in a mold for blow molding; extruding a softened parison of a synthetic resin from a die head; holding the parison in the mold and blowing gas into the parison to be expanded to form a blow molded product with a surface feature of the sheet reproduced on the blow molded product; and separating the sheet and the blow molded product from each other. An apparatus used for the process is provided with a mold defining a cavity for blow molding, a die head for extruding a parison of a synthetic resin into said mold, a sheet positioned between the mold and the parison which is formed an effective surface thereon and incompatible with the material of the parison, a gas blowing device for blowing gas into the parison to form a blow molded product, a sheet supply device for supplying a sheet in the cavity of the mold, and a sheet takeup device for taking up the sheet from the mold after blow molding.

Blow molding process with sheet interposed between mold and product

A roof molding including a base member having clip engaging surfaces at both ends thereof, and clips secured to the clip engaging surfaces of the base member. The clip includes a main body fixedly engageable with the clip engaging surfaces of the base member and an engaging strip engageable with an existing member positioned in a groove formed on an automobile roof. When the molding is installed into the groove, the engaging strip of the clip is engaged with the existing member positioned in the groove to secure the molding therein.

Growing community of inventors

Handa, Japan

Toshio Hirose